‘Dune’: First Look At Timothée Chalamet As Paul Atreides In Denis Villeneuve’s Epic

It may not seem like it with so many films being postponed, but there are still some very big movies coming in 2020. Arguably, the most anticipated of them all is Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel, and Vanity Fair has our first look.

That first look is of star Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, originally played by Kyle MacLachlan in David Lynch’s 1984 movie. The image shows Paul, not on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis (aka Dune), but on his oceanic home planet of Caladan. Soon, he and the rest of the royal House Atreides will be forced out and moved to Arrakis, where his life will be turned upside down.

Chalamet said, “The immediately appealing thing about Paul was the fact that in a story of such detail and scale and world-building, the protagonist is on an anti-hero’s-journey of sorts.”

He added, “He thinks he’s going to be sort of a young general studying his father and his leadership of a fighting force before he comes of age, hopefully a decade later, or something like that.”

The cast Villeneuve has assembled is incredible and includes Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem. Villeneuve gives credit to them and everyone in the production when speaking about the movie’s upcoming December 18th release, which as of now has yet to be moved because of the COVID-19 outbreak…

“Dune was made by people from all over the world. Many of these people are like family to me, and they’re very much in my thoughts,” Villeneuve said. “I’m so proud to showcase their hard work. I look forward to a time when we can all get together again as Dune was made to be seen on the big screen.”

Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun.
A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer.
Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.